New Archive release: Sycamore Trees (Instrumental) from FWWM

   

Under the sycamore trees... When the FWWM soundtrack was released in '92, there was a special treat on it for fans of the series. Even though it wasn't heard in the movie, the soundtrack included the vocal version of "Sycamore Trees" featuring the amazing vocals of Jimmy Scott. The track was showcased in Lynch's mesmerizing series finale, with Scott himself singing the tune onscreen. It was our (and Cooper's) entrance into the Red Room/Lodge of his dream. It became, and remained, the only track released from the second season until 2007(!) when the second soundtrack was released.

The film itself featured a (mostly) instrumental version of the track. At this point (after the other FWWM tracks that have been released on both the second soundtrack and from the TP Archive) this version was probably the biggest remaining part of FWWM's unreleased puzzle. So fans will be happy to see its release from davidlynch.com this week.

One thing listeners will notice is that this is not a "true" instrumental version, as Scott's vocals can be faintly heard throughout the track. This is actually true in the film itself (although with additional sound mixing and sound effects, its less noticeable/audible in the film). I had often wondered if a true instrumental version existed- and the write-up from davidlynch.com accompanying the release (see below) explains that this is due to the way the track was recorded. Basically the musicians and Scott all performed "live", with Scott's vocals being picked up on the mics in the room where the musicians were performing and being recorded.